WHAT-IFs you wanna see?

[JudicatorPrime]

What If Everything That Has Happened in the Marvel Universe Up Until Now Was Just the Watcher's Prophetic Dream?

No, don't think that would fit on a cover, but as cliched, quick and easy massive retcons go, this is one way to reboot everything and start fresh.

[Huntsman Spider]

What If Everything That Has Happened in the Marvel Universe Up Until Now Was Just the Watcher's Prophetic Dream?

No, don't think that would fit on a cover, but as cliched, quick and easy massive retcons go, this is one way to reboot everything and start fresh.

Hmm, yeah, and the plot from there could be about seeing the Watcher's prophetic dreams and trying to keep the worst parts of them from coming to pass, though it could just turn into self-fulfilling prophecies down the line.

[JudicatorPrime]

Hmm, yeah, and the plot from there could be about seeing the Watcher's prophetic dreams and trying to keep the worst parts of them from coming to pass, though it could just turn into self-fulfilling prophecies down the line.

I keep getting flashbacks of Uatu's "war room" with all of those monitors showing him permutation after permutation of events across all of the divergent Earths. Many of those events, as detailed in What If? were also in the future, which would suggest that Uatu had a limitless purview of reality. What we don't know is whether or not he was capable of seeing the impact of his own actions or inaction. If so, then every time he broke his oath of noninterference, Uatu was steering the Earth to a desired outcome. A known outcome. Kinda makes you wonder if Uatu's predeterminism isn't still playing a part in 616's progress.

[Huntsman Spider]

I keep getting flashbacks of Uatu's "war room" with all of those monitors showing him permutation after permutation of events across all of the divergent Earths. Many of those events, as detailed in What If? were also in the future, which would suggest that Uatu had a limitless purview of reality. What we don't know is whether or not he was capable of seeing the impact of his own actions or inaction. If so, then every time he broke his oath of noninterference, Uatu was steering the Earth to a desired outcome. A known outcome. Kinda makes you wonder if Uatu's predeterminism isn't still playing a part in 616's progress.

Funny enough, this came into play with the Marvel 2099 relaunch/reboot last year, with Doom 2099 holding the Watcher prisoner, from which one could infer that he'd been using the Watcher's visions to manipulate the future course of Marvel history for his desired outcome.

[whitecrown]

That would be a neat one, because Rogue would be a very different character if she had to use her own actual mutant power every day, rather than some borrowed alien wannabe-Superman powerset. She'd likely gain far more control, far faster, since she'd be exercising the ability in the usual rigorous X-Men daily training sessions, both the ability to control when she absorbs powers, and dealing with the absorbed memories, and adapting to the new and varied powersets (some of which, like telepathy or weather control, take a little getting used to!). She'd have to learn to be a *lot* more nimble, to weave her way into combat and get a hand on someone, not being able to trust to her borrowed Kree invulnerability or flight to get her safely into hand to hand range, and not having super-strength to make her blows superhumanly potent (fortunately, her touch is enough to knock out anyone short of Loki!).

I really like the idea of various characters having to learn to make more effective use of their own powers. Rogue's not the only one, coasting on borrowed power, and not being as strongly motivated to really develop her own actual mutant power. I see Blink doing amazing stuff with teleportation portals and wonder why Ilyanna never does stuff like this, and then remember that she's always whipping out her soul-sword and charging into the fray, using her actual mutant power as just a way to get to the fray, and then promptly ignoring *her actual super-power* once it all goes down.

So, in addition to Rogue not gaining the powers of Ms. Marvel, What if Ilyanna never became a demon sorceress of Limbo, and was just a (badass!) mutant teleporter?

I've always felt it was a mistake for Rogue to rely on Ms. Marvel's powers for so long even if that's part of what made her so iconic in the 90s. The perfect opportunity to wipe the slate clean and let her really focus on developing her own abilities was after the Ms. Marvel persona was separated from her in the Savage Land. Rogue actually lost her Ms. Marvel powers then but sadly when Magneto killed Ms. Marvel, Rogue got those powers back. Not sure how that works but it was a mistake imo especially with such a unique powerset as her own. Flight, super strength, and invulnerability isn't particularly unique, not even in the X-Men world.

I agree about Illyana as well. I love how Blink uses her powers and Illyana should have been able to work her teleportation power in the same manner rather than just rely on a Soulsword which isn't even supposed to be able to affect anything that isn't supernatural.

[DrNewGod]

What If Galactus Never Meant To Eat Us, But Was Upping Our Game Against All That Would Follow?

Seeing the future is not beyond his abilities. What if Galactus saw in us something wonderful, and so steeled the greatest of us against Thanos, The Celestials, Kang, et al.?

[pageturner]

What if the Watcher defeated Galactus. Instead of just watching Galactus when he should up the Watcher throws down with him beating him and takes and become the Earth'schampion.

[JudicatorPrime]

What If Galactus Never Meant To Eat Us, But Was Upping Our Game Against All That Would Follow?

Seeing the future is not beyond his abilities. What if Galactus saw in us something wonderful, and so steeled the greatest of us against Thanos, The Celestials, Kang, et al.?

Slightly off topic, but...

I've often wondered why Galactus never used his Time manipulation powers to eat the same meal over and over again. Each time he did it, he'd no doubt create divergent timelines and paradox, but since we're told that the multiverse is sufficiently elastic to cope with all manner of changes to the timestream, that option seems more and more plausible. Oh sure, he'd eventually get to a point where he couldn't go any further back in Time (i.e., before the planet existed), but at that point he would then move on to another planet. In terms of conservation, Galactus would probably consume only one planet every billion years.

It also makes you wonder why Galactus never went back in time to incubate properly, now that he knows that is the ultimate cure for his hunger. He'd become the Lifebringer once more. And since Eternity is no longer powerless and helplessly bound, neither Master Order, nor Lord Chaos could impose their notion of structure on the greater cosmic scheme.

Getting back on topic...

It's a solid idea. Clearly the Earth exists for a reason. Galactus has dealt with the planet's defenders enough to know that there is some greater cosmic purpose. The Earth itself didn't really come to Galactus' attention for billions of years. We know that he faced a number of threats over that period, from the Proemial Gods to presumably any number of cosmic beings that crossed his path. We know this because he didn't just give his first herald power to find planets, but the power to lay waste to worlds. Galactus must have had some very serious enemies. It makes you wonder.

I'd be really curious to know how the multiverse would fair if the Earth never existed. They can pick up the story with Uatu, a fresh graduate of Looky-Loo Cosmic Academy, being assigned to monitor the Milky Way -- less one crucial planet. With the ability to perceive divergent realities, Uatu would have known that at least in some of his visions a planet called Earth existed, as where in his now native timeline, it did not. Would the Watcher have broken his oath and manipulated someone as powerful as Galactus to bring a version of the Earth into the current continuum? If so, what would the fallout from that have been? Screwing with Galactus that way probably wouldn't end well. Not for the Watcher. Not for Earth.

[davew128]

So, in addition to Rogue not gaining the powers of Ms. Marvel, What if Ilyanna never became a demon sorceress of Limbo, and was just a (badass!) mutant teleporter?

If Illyanna never became a demon sorcerress of Limbo, she would just now becoming old enough to develop her mutant powers.

[whitecrown]

If Illyanna never became a demon sorcerress of Limbo, she would just now becoming old enough to develop her mutant powers.

Considering Marvel's sliding time scale and how characters barely ever age, maybe not even now.

[JudicatorPrime]

What if Ilyanna never became a demon sorceress of Limbo, and was just a (badass!) mutant teleporter?

That one is tricky, because Belasco was somehow made aware of Illyana (and Kitty) while she was still a child. Her mutant abilities had not even manifested yet. Claremont never really established exactly how Belasco knew of them. Reversing Illyana's story probably starts there. You'd have to figure out a way to stop Belasco from learning about Kitty and Illyana. Without Belasco, Illyana doesn't get her soul bound by the Bloodstone, and she never learns dark magic.

So far so good, but we need to make one more alteration. You have to change how Illyana's teleportation discs work. If memory serves, the discs are linked to Limbo the same way that airlines have a common travel hub that planes connect to before travelling on to other destinations. Illyana 'ports to Limbo whenever she travels across time or space. That might be because her time spent in Limbo made it the default locus for her. If that's the case, then it may just be a simple matter of giving Illyana a different locus -- like, say, the Nexus of Realities. With Man-Thing being the Guardian of the Nexus, it might be a cool twist to integrate him into Illyana's history.

That takes care of Illyana, but what are the other downstream implications of removing Belasco from the equation? No Belasco means no Limbo, no S'ym, no N'Astirh, no Maddie Pryor as Goblin Queen, and none of the senseless crap of Inferno. Who knows, maybe Maddie and Cable would actually have a chance of bonding as mother and son should?

[Sandy Hausler]

The only problem with this one. It was slightly done before. What is Hulk went Berzerk, which caused no Spider-Man, Avengers, FF, Daredevil, probably a few others I forget. But that is where the story ended. No heroes. It did not explore beyond that, which I think makes a more compelling story, and where I think this storyline should go. Let's not end with, no heroes, but instead continue with everything. Mole Men attack, no FF, what happens?

Well, that's the whole idea. Just because Johnny doesn't find the amnesiac Namor, doesn't mean Namor doesn't get his memory back at some point. Just because Namor doesn't cause the restoration of Captain Amrtica said recounted in Avengers #4 doesn't mean it doesn't happen later. And just because Captain America doesn't save the Avengers (also in Avengers #4) doesn't mean they remain statues forever. If I were writing it, things would come to a head when Galactus arrives!

[Alan2099]

What if Captain America recruited Namor for the Avengers?

Shortly after being thawed out of ice, Captain America finds that his old war buddy Namor is still running around and goes out of his way to track him down and recruit him for the team.


On another Cap note ...


What if Captain America joined SHIELD? Captain America put a lot of time and effort into trying to catch Nick Fury's attention after he was thawed out. What if he had and Cap left the Avengers soon after joining them for Fury's secret origination?

[JudicatorPrime]

What If Reed Richards Had Dated Someone His Own Age?

I know the actual age difference between Reed and Sue has been steadily massaged over the years to make it seem less stark and more appropriate, but it still feels like Reed was generations older than Sue when he first developed an interest in her. I've often wondered what if Reed had dated -- and eventually married -- someone his age or older? Who would that person be? We're definitely reining in the sliding time scale here. Reed was originally old enough to have participated in the Korean War, so we're going to stick with that benchmark. That still gives us a few good choices, although Reed might have to duke it out with some of the guys who had already staked their claim first. Could Reed and Aunt May have been a thing? What about Miss America? Dr. Moira MacTaggert? Agatha Harkness? Sersi??? With Sue out of the picture, who does Reed invite along for that fateful flight into the cosmic ray storm? Or does Reed simply remain a bachelor to the present day, with Sue (and Johnny) not only replaced in his family tree, but never becoming members of the FF?

[pageturner]

What if Captain America recruited Namor for the Avengers?

Shortly after being thawed out of ice, Captain America finds that his old war buddy Namor is still running around and goes out of his way to track him down and recruit him for the team.


On another Cap note ...


What if Captain America joined SHIELD? Captain America put a lot of time and effort into trying to catch Nick Fury's attention after he was thawed out. What if he had and Cap left the Avengers soon after joining them for Fury's secret origination?

Namor was recruited twice and joined once.

I have never been sure what Caps SHIELD position was. He seems to have the keys to the store but never quite is an agent. When he formed the New Avengers he says he is using his champions clearance and that overrules Maria hill. There is one What if where he takes over Shield after Nick Fury and Bucky run it.